Charles Rocket, Bob Picardo, Don Lake and William Sanderson (from the latter -- and star of "Deadwood's" website), on the set of "Dances With Wolves."

From AP

Ex-'SNL' Comedian's
Death Ruled Suicide

Actor and comedian Charles Rocket, who had roles in a variety of movies and TV series and briefly gained notoriety for uttering an obscenity on "Saturday Night Live," committed suicide, the state medical examiner ruled.

Rocket, 56, whose real name was Charles Claverie, was found dead in a field near his home in Canterbury on Oct 7. His throat had been cut, the medical examiner said.

"An investigation determined there was no criminal aspect to this case," State Police Sgt. J. Paul Vance said Monday.

Rocket was a cast member on NBC's "Saturday Night Live" during the 1980-81 season. The profanity incident happened during a spoof of the "Who Shot J.R.?" plot line on "Dallas," which created a nationwide sensation at the time.

"Dallas" star Charlene Tilton was the "SNL" guest host that week. Rocket, who came on stage in a wheelchair, uttered the profanity after he was asked what it was like to have been shot.

The incident sparked complaints from viewers and prompted NBC to issue an apology. Rocket was later dismissed along with other cast members and writers on the show amid weak ratings at the time.

He went on to appear in numerous TV shows, including "Moonlighting" and "Max Headroom," and provided voices for cartoon series. His movie credits included "Earth Girls are Easy," "Dumb and Dumber" and "Dances With Wolves," according to the Internet Movie Database.

Before his time on "Saturday Night Live," Rocket was an anchorman at television stations in Colorado and Rhode Island and played an influential role in the Providence, R.I., arts scene decades ago, friends said.

"I just think he was one of the nicest and funniest people I ever met," said Chip Young, who co-wrote a column on Rocket in a Providence paper. "He had so many friends and influenced so many people."

Wikipedia Charles Rocket

Charles Rocket (born August 24, 1949, Bangor, Maine) is an American film and television actor. After working in local TV news for a few years, he made his network debut on the popular program Saturday Night Live.

Rocket was cast for the 1980–81 season, which followed the departure of the remaining members of the show's popular original cast and original executive producer Lorne Michaels. Singled out by new executive producer Jean Doumanian as the star of her new ensemble, Rocket was promoted as "kind of a cross between Bill Murray and Chevy Chase." Rocket was given the coveted role of anchor for the show's Weekend Update news parody, and was featured in several sketches.

However, the new cast (save for Joe Piscopo and later Eddie Murphy) was not at all popular with audiences. Rocket would eventually doom both his and Doumanian's tenures on the show with one word. An episode hosted by Dallas star Charlene Tilton, featured an ongoing joke occurred in which Charles was shot, a parody of the famed "Who Shot J.R.?" episode of "Dallas". At the end of the show, a wheelchair-bound Charles loudly commented to the camera that he'd like to know "who the fuck did it", followed by Tilton slapping her hand over her mouth in shock. The incident seemed to encapsulate all that was wrong with Saturday Night Live at the time, and both Rocket and Doumanian were soon fired.

Rocket recovered from this early career setback and has since acted in many films, such as Dances with Wolves and Dumb and Dumber, and as a recurring guest star on episodic TV.

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Note: Unfortunately, Rocket’s brief SNL career was in the season that has easily been considered the worst in the show’s history. Rocket may be remembered as androgynous “Pat’s” obsessive neighbor in the “It’s Pat” film version of the popular Julia Sweeney “SNL” character.